Olympus High
by ThespianKid
Summary: Even in a world without gods and monsters, our favorite teenagers still find their lives in danger on a daily basis. Their social lives. Watch as they navigate the dangerous jungle that is high school, and as they overcome the scariest things in the world: Other teenagers. High School AU. T for swearing, underage drinking, and *mentions* of sexual activity.
1. Parties are a Pain

**Thanks so much for clicking on my story! I suddenly got inspired to write this, and I hope that this is unlike most of the high school AUs that you've read. To get this out of the way:**

**I do not own PJO, or any of the characters mentioned. They are all products of Rick Riordan's brain. Not mine. I only own the plot.**

**Before you go, here's a little grade guide (for those that will absolutely be in the story):**

**Freshmen: Nico  
Sophomores: Hazel, Frank  
Juniors: Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Percy, Leo, Rachel, Will Solace  
Seniors: Thalia, Calypso  
And Luke is a sophomore in college**

**Sorry for taking up so much time. Hope you like it!**

* * *

"I don't wanna go if you're not there," Annabeth whined to Thalia as she shut her locker. "It'll just be a bunch of rowdy teenagers making noise."

Thalia's little brother, Jason Grace, was throwing a party at their house while their parents were on a second honeymoon in Greece. Well, it was less Jason and more his best friend Leo that was throwing the party, but putting Jason's name on the invitation ensured that plenty of people would show up.

Either way, Thalia wouldn't be there, so Annabeth saw no reason for her to be there either.

"You'll have Piper," Thalia informed her as they began to walk towards their usual lunch hangout place.

"She'll be running after Jason all night." Annabeth sighed, thinking of her friend's years-old crush on the Grace brother.

Thalia scoffed at Annabeth's comment. "Jason will be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to keep the house tidy. If anything gets messed up, our dad will have a heart attack."

"Can't you just come? Please?"

"No can do, Anna," Thalia said, sitting down in the area behind the staircase—their usual spot. "This weekend is the only time I'll be able to sleep over in Luke's dorm without my parents having a stroke, and I'm taking advantage of it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, taking out her bag lunch. "You and your stupid college boyfriend."

"You'll change your tune once you get your own boyfriend."

"Yeah, on the fifth of never."

"You never know." Thalia smirked, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "At least go for Piper; she'll need someone to talk to."

"Ugh, _fine_. I'll go. But I won't enjoy it," Annabeth groaned, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "Where is Piper, anyway?"

* * *

"He's so cute, though," Piper sighed, staring at Jason as he talked to random party guests. Leo Valdez was by his side, tinkering with some little toy in his hands. He was speaking animatedly as well, somehow able to work with mechanics and speak simultaneously.

"He's also a little dumb," Annabeth responded, absentmindedly scrolling through Twitter on her phone. "How can he not see how much you like him?"

"He's not dumb!" Piper defended him. "He's just oblivious. It's not his fault."

"This is so boring," Annabeth changed the topic, ignoring Piper's comment. They'd had that argument too many times before, and they'd reached a stalemate that Annabeth didn't feel like dredging back up.

"Everyone else seems to be having a good time," Piper noted.

"Everyone else is drunk."

"Maybe you need to get drunk. Ooh!" Piper suddenly squeaked, causing Annabeth to jump.

"_What?_"

"Jason is alone. Sorry, Anna, but I've gotta take advantage of this. I'll see you in a little while!" Without waiting to see if Annabeth was okay with being left alone, Piper sprinted off to go and be with Jason.

"Why did I come here again?" Annabeth muttered to herself, just as she felt someone new occupy the space where Piper had just been. Annabeth looked over at the other side of the couch and saw that the new person was a boy with messing black hair.

_Oh, it's Percy Jackson_, Annabeth thought. Percy Jackson was the captain of the swim &amp; dive team, as well as one of the school's resident troublemakers. He and his best friend Grover Underwood were notorious for causing mischief around Olympus High.

"Is this seat taken?" Percy asked, his sea green eyes twinkling.

"Well, you've already sat down," Annabeth replied sassily, looking back at her phone.

"Someone's got a mouth on her," Percy said easily, not even slightly put off by her answer.

"So I've been told." Annabeth looked over at him again, noticing how his smile lit up his entire face. "Where's your partner in crime?"

"Who, Grover? He's with his girlfriend, Juniper."

"I've never heard of any Juniper at our school."

"She goes to an all-girls school. Nymph Prep." Percy had to stifle a laugh. "It's such an awful name for a school; it sounds like a rehab for sex addicts."

"I thought that it was playing on the nymphs from certain ancient mythologies. You know, the nature spirits like dryads and such. The spirits were always women, so it makes sense that they'd name an all-girls school that, especially if the school was founded a long time ago."

Percy's eyes had glazed over at some point during her lecture, and he was watching her with his mouth hanging slightly open. "Wow," he said, snapping back to reality once he realized that she'd finished. "That's a really good point."

"Do you even know what I just said?"

"No," he admitted, and Annabeth laughed despite herself. She didn't understand why. She always hated it when people didn't listen to her. So how was it so endearing when this random boy did it?

"Forget I said anything," she said once she'd recovered from her little bout of laughter.

"No problem. You're really smart, huh?"

"I'm a certified genius," Annabeth informed him, her chest swelling with pride.

"Well, you outrank me. I sometimes forget where my house is."

Before she knew it, Annabeth was cracking up again. She had forgotten all of her earlier qualms about going to the party.

Percy looked over her shoulder quickly before meeting her gaze again. "Sorry, but I think that my friend wants me." He stood up from the couch, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It was nice talking to you, Annabeth."

"You know my name?"

"Of course! You're class president; it'd be hard to not know your name. See you later."

He walked off, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile after him as she watched him walk towards a redheaded girl. But as soon as she turned back around, her smile melted off of her face as she was met with Piper staring at her, a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat adorning her face.

"What's wrong with your face?"

"Nothing," Piper said quickly, trying and failing to stop smiling.

"I thought that you were going to talk to Jason."

That erased Piper's smile. Her face fell, her eyes drifting over to where Jason was now frantically trying to calm down some of the other party guests. "He's just so busy."

Piper was the school's resident matchmaker, and she had gotten several couples together over the course of her three years in high school, all without even really trying. Everyone at school coveted her relationship advice, especially since she was super easy to talk to, and hardly ever judged people.

In spite of all of this, Piper was just as much of a hopeless romantic as anyone else when it came to her own love life.

"Maybe you should just get over him," Annabeth suggested.

"If I could, I would, but getting over someone is easier said than done."

"Well, he's always been this busy, and he's always going to be this busy, even if he's in a relationship. You should keep that in mind."

Piper pouted at Annabeth's _annoyingly true_ comment. If Jason was often too busy to pay attention to her as a friend, how would he ever be able to give her the attention that she'd require as a girlfriend? Maybe she _should_ just get over him.

Still, easier said than done.

* * *

**Did I portray the characters well? Review to let me know how you felt!**

**See you later! I'll try to update as soon as possible!**


	2. Manic Cleanups and Monday Mornings

**Hey, guys! So, I meant to post this yesterday, but I wanted to proofread it and I didn't have the time. Anyway, thanks for all of the support and the reviews! I really didn't expect to get so many :D. I hope I continue to please. And I'll have specific thanks at the bottom of the chapter. See you then!**

**(Also, I got some comments that Piper is a little too girly, so I hope that I can get away from that, but it'll take some time to build all of their characters. I don't really wanna unload everything in the first few chapters XD. Especially since lots of the characters haven't even made an appearance yet.)**

* * *

"Leo!" Jason groaned as he kicked his friend in the side. Leo grunted, slowly opening his eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the light.

"_What?_" Leo whined, running his hands through his hair.

"Get up. We need to clean up before my parents get back."

"Your parents aren't getting back until Monday. Why do we have to clean right now?"

"You haven't seen the house."

Leo finally sat up, fully opening his eyes. All around him were bottles, cups, half-eaten bits of food, popped balloons, and a medley of other items. A few stragglers were waking up and being ushered out by Piper and Annabeth.

"Holy shit," Leo said in awe. "What happened?"

"Your party happened," Jason answered, picking up beer bottles and throwing them into a large black trash bag. "That's the last time I listen to you about anything."

"You always say that." Leo tried to smile, but a pounding in his head turned his smile into a grimace. It felt like a bunch of kickboxers were using his brain as a punching bag.

"Well this time I mean it. Now get up and start picking up this trash. We've got a long day ahead of us." Jason picked up the last bottle in that area of the house and moved to find a different mess to clean up.

"That's the last of them," Piper announced as she appeared in front of him.

"Thank you, Pipes," Jason said gratefully. "You know that you didn't have to come back to help, right?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to," she chirped, her smile reaching her eyes. How she was so wide awake the day after a party, Jason would never know. "That's what friends are for." Her eyes seemed to dim a little when she said the word "friend", but Jason decided not to read into it. Girls confused him even when he _wasn't_ stressed out with a slight hangover, so he wasn't going to try and tackle that beast right now.

"I was just dragged here," Annabeth commented, entering the conversation. "Not that I don't love you, Jason, but I'd rather be anywhere but here."

"So would I," Jason agreed. "But if I don't get this place cleaned up, I won't be able to go anywhere, because my dad will lock me in a tower."

"I don't think your hair's long enough for that," Piper quipped, reaching up to ruffle Jason's already-mussed hair. "Annabeth, why don't you go upstairs and clean up the bedrooms? I don't think very many people went in there, so it should be easy."

"Sure thing, Piper." Annabeth sighed, knowing exactly why Piper wanted her out of the way. She headed towards the staircase, disappearing as she made it to the main floor.

"You'll never believe what happened last night," Piper said to Jason as soon as she was sure that Annabeth was out of earshot. Jason paused his cleaning.

"_Please_ don't tell me that someone hooked up in my house."

"What? No! What?"

"Then what happened?"

"Annabeth met a boy!" Piper smiled widely, waiting for Jason's response, but there was none. "Seriously? You're not excited?"

"It's not really that exciting. For me, at least," Jason added, sensing that Piper didn't appreciate the comment. "But that's good for her. That's her first boyfriend, right?"

"Well, um… he's not exactly her boyfriend."

"Then what is he?"

"Well, like I said, she met him last night."

"So they're going on a date…?"

"No…"

Jason sighed, going back to cleaning up the mess. "Pipes, don't you think that you're jumping the gun a little?"

"What makes you say that?"

"She's only talked to the guy once, right? I don't think that it's time to start planning their wedding."

Piper crossed her arms at him. "You didn't see the look on her face. I've _never_ seen her look like that before. Can you blame me for wanting my best friend to be happy? Besides, we both know that I wouldn't push it if it didn't feel right."

"If it's meant to be, it'll happen. Okay?" Noticing that Piper looked slightly downtrodden, Jason put his hand on her shoulder. "You can't fix the world, Pipes. Don't stress yourself out over it."

"_Dude!_" Leo cried from a different corner of the basement. "The kids at our school are _gross_!"

* * *

"Throughout his _Letter from Birmingham Jail_, Dr. King refutes the arguments made by the clergymen against him, while simultaneously making his own allegations regarding the treatment of black people in the most racist city in the country. This letter is absolutely brimming with rhetorical strategies, and the assignment is for you all to identify them," Paul Blofis, the AP Language and Composition teacher at Olympus High went on Monday morning. Around the classroom, most of the students were slumping in their seats, lazily listening to him as he detailed their next assignment.

Jason, however, was snoozing away. After spending the rest of his weekend cleaning, he'd realized much too late that he had actual homework to do. So he'd been up until an ungodly hour, trying to finish the mountain of work that he had. That, plus the Monday Effect, resulted in a very disengaged AP student.

"_Wake up_," Annabeth whispered to him, jabbing him in the side with her mechanical pencil. Annabeth and Jason were polar opposites at the moment. While he was struggling to keep his head up, she was wide awake and alert, hanging onto every word that came out of Mr. Blofis's mouth (he _was_ her favorite teacher after all). All of her homework had been done as soon as she'd gotten home on Friday, so she had been able to get her full eight hours.

"Leave me alone, Annabeth," Jason complained, just barely opening his eyes. "I'll need my sleep if he wants us to annotate this novel-length letter."

"That's what you get for letting a bunch of kids destroy your home."

"I was listening to Leo."

"When does that ever work out?"

"I'll let you know if I think of anything."

"That's what I thought." Annabeth peeked back at their teacher, but he was just passing out copies of the letter. "Have you seen Thalia? I had to catch the school bus this morning."

Jason smiled slightly. "She didn't make it back in time, so she's probably hiding from our dad. No offense, Annabeth, but you would've ratted her out if our dad had asked you where she was."

"Is it my fault that your dad is terrifying? I don't know why you guys insist on breaking his rules so often."

"_Thalia_ insists on breaking the rules. I just end up doing it somehow; it's usually Leo that starts it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever. I guess I'll just have to wait until lunch to see her."

* * *

"So how was the party?" Thalia asked Annabeth. She had been leaning against Annabeth's locker, waiting for the blonde to show up.

Annabeth shrugged. "It was okay. Not as unbearable as I thought, but it wasn't really fun either. Especially since Piper forced me to help clean up the next day." Annabeth quickly peeked over Thalia's shoulder. "Speak of the devil."

Piper sauntered over to them, her uneven (but somehow still beautiful) hair swishing side-to-side. "What are we talking about?"

"Jason's party."

"According to Annabeth, it was a total letdown," Thalia commented.

Piper shook her head. "I don't think so; most people seemed to have a good time. I know I did." Piper bit her lip, holding back a comment about how Annabeth was probably underselling how good of a time she had really had. Piper had decided to take Jason's advice to butt out of the situation. Bringing it up definitely did not qualify as butting out.

"Even the cleaning part?" Thalia continued, oblivious to Piper's inner struggle.

"Not so much that, but the rest of it was pretty cool."

"Enough about the stupid party," Annabeth groaned. "How was your weekend, Thals?"

Thalia raised an eyebrow at her question. "Do you really wanna hear about that?"

Annabeth hesitated. "You know, on second thought, I don't think I do."

* * *

**I hope you liked it! Now for the thanks:**

**Thank you to ****Jasper is Golden, CalypsoValdezislife, SilverSapphire999, NatalieGrace07, Reena, Reemeela, and Guest! I've already replied to some of you on private message, but thank you again!**

**And to Reena: You're a guest reviewer, so I couldn't PM you, but I wanted to say that Piper only openly shows her feelings for Jason to Annabeth, since Annabeth is her best friend. And, yeah, she's a tomboy, but tomboys can still have crushes and be matchmakers, at least in my opinion. Everybody has crushes, and matchmaking is something that you can do if you're good at it, not only if you're girly. I hope that I don't seem defensive, but I felt the need to share that!**

**Once again, thank you all for your support! Let me know how you felt again in the review box! See you all soon!**


	3. Afterschool Activities

**Hey, guys! I totally didn't drop off of the face of the Earth for two weeks!**

**Yeah, I'm lying to you. There's no real excuse; just had no time and I was running low on writer juice. But I hope that you're excited to see me again! And I hope that you enjoy this next installment of "Olympus High". We're still kind of introducing people, but I hope that you can see the beginnings of drama cropping up. See you at the bottom!**

* * *

"Jason? What are you doing here?" Piper asked when she saw the tall blonde wandering the halls after school.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he responded, giving her a smile that was bright enough to light the Earth if the sun ever failed at its job.

"I have debate club. Like I do every Monday."

"Really? What are you talking about today?"

"The pros and cons of the Neolithic Revolution. I've got the cons."

"Well, you'll definitely win. You're too charming for your own good. If you told me to go back to hunting and gathering, I'd probably do it in a heartbeat. Even though I'd probably die from a lack of knowledge on how to hunt and gather."

She smiled at him, very used to his awkward way of complimenting people. "That's sweet. Now, please answer my question: What are you doing here? Lacrosse doesn't start until the spring."

"I stayed to help my friend out. He's recruiting members for this winter's swim team."

"You're helping who?" Piper asked, wondering Jason's mere mention of the swim team had acted like a key turning in the ignition of her brain. But before she could ask any more questions, a raven-haired boy rounded the corner and came into view.

"Jason!" the boy called, notifying Jason of his presence.

"Come on over, Percy!" Jason yelled back, waving Percy over.

"Jason, that's the boy!" Piper whispered frantically as Percy made his way towards them.

"What?"

"That's the boy that Annabeth was talking to at the party!"

Jason scoffed at her. "Percy? That's who you think she likes? That would never happen."

Percy finally made it over to the two, cutting off their conversation. "Hey," he greeted them, his sparkling green eyes on Piper's. "I'm Percy."

"I'm Piper," she responded, smiling as if she and Jason hadn't just been talking about him and his romantic prospects with a girl he barely knew.

"Nice to meet you. Are you ready, Jason?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Cool. We're gonna stop to pick up Rachel before we go to the meeting. Is that okay?"

"No problem. I'll see you later, Pipes, okay?" Jason said, now addressing Piper.

"See you later," Piper agreed, not taking her eyes off of Percy. "See you, too, Percy."

They both waved as they walked off, taking about who knows what. Piper shook her head, beginning to walk towards the classroom where debate was being held. Percy and Jason were friends? When did that happen?

She knew that it didn't really matter that they knew each other, and that there was no chance of it ever happening, but she couldn't help but think of what it would be like for her and Annabeth to go on a double-date with them. She immediately chastised herself for this, as she had promised herself that she'd stay out of it, and that's exactly what she was going to do. Besides, she had been getting way too interested in boys and relationships lately, and she really needed to focus on all of the important things that came with being a junior in high school.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

* * *

"Frank!" Hazel jumped upon seeing her boyfriend. She had walked out of the locker room and was met with his chubby, smiling face looking down at her. She quickly pulled the door shut, making sure that they were completely alone. "Why are you here?"

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

She gave a nervous laugh, pulling him into a hug. "I course I am! I'm just not used to seeing you at my practices."

"Well, the wrestling workout got cancelled, so I thought that I should stop by. I never get to see you practice."

"Shouldn't you use this time to get your homework done?" Hazel asked, still looking around anxiously. "You know, spend the time doing something productive instead of watching us practice the same cheers we always do."

"I can just do my homework here. Are you okay?" She seemed increasingly fidgety, like she was terrified that something was coming to devour both of them, or launch them into a bottomless pit.

Before Hazel could answer him, the locker room door burst open, revealing a small group of girls. Frank recognized them as some of the girls on the cheerleading team with Hazel. All of them were upperclassmen, as Hazel was the first underclassman to make the cheerleading team in five years.

When the girls saw Frank, their faces all lit up with laughter.

"Aw, it's the sumo wrestler!" Maria, the team captain, chirped. She was a beautiful girl, with tanned Hispanic skin, dark curly hair, and a great figure from all of her work on the team. But she was far from being a nice person. She got a lot of joy from making fun of other people, and she used her position to coerce other people into doing the same.

Basically, she was the worst person ever, and her being the perfect cheerleader stereotype didn't make it any better (especially since she dragged the rest of the cheerleaders down with her). Frank really disliked her, but he bit his tongue for Hazel's sake; one wrong word and his girlfriend would be the team's metaphorical punching bag, or worse, she'd be off the team all together.

"I'm not a sumo wrestler!" Frank declared, just barely containing his anger.

"My bad," Maria pretended to apologize. "You've got so much fat on you that I just assumed. What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be pushing people out of a ring?"

"I came here to see my girlfriend." Frank wrapped his arm around Hazel, trying to pull her closer, but she wouldn't budge. When Frank looked down at her, he saw that her brown cheeks were tinted red.

"That's right!" Maria continued her onslaught. "I forgot that you two were dating. Sophomores have such bad taste in boys." Seemingly having filled her verbal assault quota for the day, Maria walked away, the other cheerleaders following closely behind her.

Once they were gone, Frank looked back at Hazel, who wasn't meeting his gaze. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Hazel assured him, but she still wouldn't look him in his eyes. "I'll see you later, okay? But you should go home." Without another word, Hazel followed the other cheerleaders, leaving Frank alone and confused.

* * *

"So how do you think the team will do this year?" Jason asked Percy as they walked together down the hallway.

"However they do, it can't be worse than last year," Percy replied, shuddering at the thought. The team hadn't won a single meet, and half of the kids had been oblivious as to what a butterfly stroke was when they first joined. It was like an underdog story without the victory at the end. "I'm gonna make sure that we're better this year."

"How?"

"Well, first of all, we're gonna stop taking everyone who wants to be a swimmer. The team will be a lot smaller, but quality over quantity, right?"

Jason nodded, as he planned to apply this same philosophy to the lacrosse team come spring. "That's what I always say. What's the second thing?"

"We're also gonna get a manager this year; we were way too disorganized last year. My stepdad's working on finding someone."

The two boys approached the art room. As soon as they walked in, the smell of acrylic paint wafted all around them. There were globs of spilled paint everywhere, some fresh and wet, some dry and crusty. The only person in the room was a girl with frizzy red hair, who was fixated on the canvas painting in front of her. Just like the rest of the room, she was covered in globs of paint, big and small splatters decorating her hair, face, and outfit (she had forgone wearing a smock, so her clothes bore the brunt of the paint splash back). But her clothes had not been stained in vain; the product of her effort was a beautiful almost-finished mimic of Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

"Rachel," Percy called, pulling her out of her painting trance. She looked back and smiled at him immediately, her grin as bright as the colors on her canvas. But her face morphed to shock in almost a second.

"Oh, crap, is it 3 o'clock already?" she questioned, peering over at the clock on the wall. Not that it was of much help; it was just as paint-splatted as the rest of the room. Jason subtly wondered how the students had managed to fling their paint that far.

"You seem surprised," Percy continued, leaning against one of the tables.

"You know how I get when I paint."

"What are you making anyway?"

"Seriously, Percy?" Jason asked, and Rachel seemed to notice him for the first time. "It's obviously 'Starry Night'."

Rachel smiled at him (though it wasn't the same excited smile that she's given Percy). "Nice to see you, Jason. I had a great time at your party."

"I'm glad. I didn't have a very fun time cleaning it up," Jason joked.

"That's why I never have parties at my own house. Teenagers are too messy," she replied before looking back at Percy. "And he's right. I'm trying this art form that I made up: I'm calling it 'Impressionist Impressionism'."

Jason furrowed his eyebrows. "So it's basically an impressionist take on and already impressionist painting?"

"Exactly."

"Is anyone going to explain what that means?" Percy asked, picking at an old drop of paint on the table in front of him.

"Well, impressionism is basically taking a quick look at something and painting it from memory, usually with soft edges. Van Gogh did that with the night sky and painted 'Starry Night'. I'm doing it with 'Starry Night' and painting…" she looked back at the canvas, a slightly disappointed look marring her previously smiling face. "…well, it's shaping up to be a big yellow and blue mess."

Percy gave a short laugh. "You always do this, Rach; your paintings are amazing, especially this one. Why are you always disappointed by them?"

"I guess I'm mimicking Van Gogh in more ways than one." Giving another superficial glance at the clock, she started packing up her supplies. "I should hurry, or we're gonna be late."

"Go, co-captain," Percy urged her as she picked up her canvas from the easel.

"The season hasn't even started yet, Percy; I'm not co-captain."

"Just hurry. It's not gonna look good if the captain and future co-captain are late for the interest meeting."

Rachel quickly put away all of her supplies and grabbed her bag. She didn't bother trying to wash any of the paint off of her person, so she looked like a human art project when the trio started walking towards Paul Blofis's classroom for the meeting.

Jason quickly looked over at the two swimmers, about to make a comment about how they should maybe walk faster since they were already ten minutes late and setting a bad example for the freshmen, when he saw that their pinkies were intertwined. It was a small gesture, barely noticeable as it was being partially camouflaged by their large gym bags, and their faces remained neutral as if they were entirely unaware of it, but it was definitely happening.

Jason turned his head away, decidedly not commenting on it. Their relationship—if that's what it truly was—was none of his business. All he did was chuckle to himself, thinking about how not even ten minutes ago Piper was almost convinced that Annabeth was the one destined to be walking down the hallway with Percy, pinkies intertwined.

* * *

**Ooh, what's happening here? I hope that you like the little curve ball that I just threw at you. I mean, I can't make it easy for Percy and Annabeth to get together, can I? (I'll try really hard to not make it a typical love triangle, if it can even be called that based on what I have planned.)**

**I hope that you guys liked my take on Rachel. It really boils my blood when people write her as this evil she-witch trying to stomp out Percabeth, because she's not that; she's a really cool girl with really cool artistic talent. ****Also, did you like my brand-new invention, Impressionist Impressionism? I really don't know where that came from, but it sounds like a cool art form that I'd like to try (though I might be biased).**

**Thank you to Aisika, Reena, hazelandnicofan, beautyqueenpipermclean, and tineyandkate for your reviews and support!**

**Let me leave you with a few questions:**

**1) Why do you think Hazel was freaking out about Frank?**

**2) What do you think will become of the Percy/Annabeth/Rachel dynamic I've set up?**

**Don't forget to review!**


	4. At Home Headaches

**Hello, world! My apologies, but I've been swamped with APs and searching for an internship lately. But now that the year's over, I can hopefully dedicate a little more time to this story!**

**I'll see you guys at the bottom with a slightly longer author's note! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Mom, we're back!" Percy yelled as he entered his house, his stepfather right behind him.

"Percy, I'm right here. You don't have to yell," Sally Jackson-Blofis said as she stepped out of the kitchen, a blue apron covering her clothes. "Hi, honey," she greeted Paul Blofis, giving him a kiss.

"Gross," Percy complained, grimacing at his parents. "I'm right here."

"Since you don't want to see us, why don't you go and tell your cousin that dinner's ready."

"Sure, Mom." Percy kicked off his shoes before heading towards the staircase. He ran upstairs, the blue carpet muffling the sound of his footsteps. Upon reaching his room, he pushed the door open, letting the light of the hallway flood into the dark area. "Why are you sitting in the dark?" Percy asked as he turned on his lamp, dropping his backpack in the corner.

"Because I feel like it," Nico di Angelo responded, continuing to stare at the wall. He was lying on his side, covered from top to bottom in blankets, with only the crown of his head remaining visible. Had Percy not known that Nico was in the room, he might've missed the small boy entirely.

"Well, my mom says that it's time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry," Nico replied shortly. Even though he had been living in the States for some time already, and had known some English when he still lived in Italy, Nico was a man of few words. Getting him to speak was like pulling teeth, and even when you managed to, you weren't guaranteed any sort of substance.

"Do you really think that she's going to take that for an answer?" Percy prodded. Nico sighed, knowing that Percy was right. After Nico's sister and mother had died in a car crash in Italy, Sally had insisted that Nico come and live with them, and she babied him just as much as she did Percy, which meant that skipping meals was not allowed.

The olive-skinned boy shed his blanket cocoon, pushing himself from the cot that served as his bed. He brushed his long black hair from his face and smoothed out his crumpled T-shirt, seemingly attempting to make himself look less like a depressed homeless man. Percy stepped aside as Nico walked past him, as if he was afraid of touching the young boy.

Sally and Paul smiled at the boys as they came back down the stairs.

"He's alive!" Paul joked, but the joke earned a laugh from no one but him. Nico sat down at the far end of the dinner table, and Percy took his seat at the other end.

"I made pesto pasta," Sally announced as she set a plate in front of Nico. She might not have said anything, but Percy knew what she was trying to do. Pesto pasta was Nico's favorite food; she'd made it during the first week that he'd come to live with them, and it was the only food that he hadn't picked act. He'd even given a small ghost of a smile while he was eating it. So it was no surprise that Sally was making it again at the start of the school year, when Nico was more down than ever.

"So, Percy, I think I found someone to be the swim team's new manager," Paul announced as he took he seat.

"Really?" Percy responded. "That's great! When can I meet them?"

"Tomorrow afterschool. You and Rachel can meet her while we sort through some paperwork." Paul glanced over at Nico, who was hunched over his plate. "Nico, why don't you join the team? It'll give you a chance to meet some people at the school."

"No thank you," Nico muttered, not looking up from his pasta.

A silence washed over the table, and nothing could be heard but the soft clink of silverware against the ceramic plates.

"So… how was work, Mom?" Percy asked, trying to cut through the tension.

* * *

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Annabeth," Piper said as she walked through her front door.

"Bye, Piper," Annabeth said before hanging up. Piper sighed, shoving her phone into her pocket as she made her way to the kitchen, her footsteps echoing in the huge, empty house. She mentally scolded herself for getting disappointed again. Her father was in Los Angeles shooting a new movie, so there was no way that he'd be there to greet her. Still, she couldn't help but get her hopes up that he'd show up and act like a real father.

She dropped her backpack in the corner of the kitchen, going to find herself some dinner. She decided on some fried rice leftover from the previous night's Chinese takeout. She sat back down at her kitchen table, turning on the TV to make it seem less like she was all alone.

* * *

Leo at home when his mom decides that it's time to get a tutor; the whole argument

"Leo! _LEO!_"

"I'm coming!" Leo yelled back at his mom, sliding out from under his soon-to-be car. He packed up his toolbox and locked the car doors before running from the parking lot and into his tiny Section 8 townhouse. "Yes, Mom?"

"We need to talk, _mijo_," Esperanza Valdez said, taking a seat at their kitchen table built for two.

"About what?" Leo asked suspiciously, sitting down as well.

"About your grades." Leo's stomach dropped at the sound of the word "grades". He knew that he wasn't doing well, but he'd hoped that his mother would never find out.

"What about my grades?" Leo tried playing dumb.

"You're failing English and math, Leo. And your grade in biology isn't very good, either, baby."

Leo remained silent, staring at his oily hands with more interest than warranted. Esperanza waited for her son to respond, but when he said nothing, she continued, "So the school is assigning you a tutor."

"A _what?!_" Leo exclaimed, his eyes shooting up to look at his mother. "A _tutor_?"

"Yes, Leo, a tutor. You have to get your grades up, _papi_. I am not going to let you be a mechanic like me for your entire life."

"I don't need a tutor!" he continued to argue, standing up from the table.

Esperanza stood up as well, looking like a dwarf compared to her son. "Then prove it, Leo. You _have_ to go to the tutor, but if you get your grades up then you can stop. Okay? Okay?"

"Fine," Leo agreed, as if he had a choice.

"Good boy." Esperanza kissed him on his cheek, lightly ruffling his hair. "Clean up and come and help me with dinner."

* * *

"Hey, Mom and Dad," Jason greeted his parents as he entered his living room. "What's that noise?" There was a loud, muffled almost-scream coming from underneath them, and he could feel the floor vibrating from his feet to his teeth.

"Your sister is playing music downstairs," Beryl Grace said.

"That's _music_?" Zeus exclaimed, the shock on his face clear.

"Go get her to turn it down, Jason. She won't listen to us."

"I'll give her something to listen to," Zeus grumbled, sinking lower into his armchair.

Jason turned away from his parents, not wanting to catch whatever anger his father was harboring towards Thalia. He quickly went to the basement door, getting blasted in the face with the loud music as soon as he opened the door. He shuffled downstairs, stopping when he saw the mess at the bottom of the stairs.

There were CDs and clothes, pencils and papers everywhere. Many things were destroyed, and the desk at the far end of the wall had been flipped onto its side. At the center of the wreckage stood Thalia, who was furiously throwing her belongings at the walls.

"Thals?" Jason spoke up, getting her attention. She turned around, quickly dabbing at her eyes.

"Hey, Jason," she said, faking a smile. "What are you doing down here?"

"Mom and Dad want you to turn down the music… Um, is something wrong?"

Thalia shook her head at him, the forced smile still adorning her face. "No, I'm fine. I'll turn the music off. Don't worry."

Jason turned back around, clutching his backpack strap tightly. "Are you sure?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder.

"I'm sure. Go and do your homework, bud."

"Alright…"

* * *

**Let me know what you guys thought! I really wanted for this chapter to be an inside look into their lives at home versus their lives at school. I really appreciate everyone who's still reading, and to my new readers, welcome aboard! ****Big thanks for all of my reviews and favorites and follows from before!**

**A few questions before we leave. Just leave answers in the review section:**

**1) What do you think will become of Leo with this tutoring situation?**

**2) What do you think is wrong with Thalia?**

**Until next time, guys! Later!**


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